ITV

Tag: Uttar Pradesh

  • Pearl Broadcasting invests Rs 400 million in P7 News, Mumbai launch on 23 September

    Pearl Broadcasting invests Rs 400 million in P7 News, Mumbai launch on 23 September

    MUMBAI: Pearl Broadcasting Corporation has invested close to Rs 400 million in P7 News and is set to formally launch the Hindi news channel in Mumbai on 23 September.

    P7 has already signed up major cable networks including Incablenet, Hathway Cable & Datacom, Scod18 and Wire & Wireless India Ltd (WWIL).

    “Our investment so far has been close to Rs 400 million (barring distribution). For Mumbai, we are spending around Rs 50 million for distributing the channel on cable networks. We have already signed annual deals with the the major cable networks in Mumbai,” Pearl Broadcasting director Jyoti Narain tells Indiantelevision.com.

    Launched on 27 March in Delhi, the channel is already available in other Hindi speaking markets. “We have spent around Rs 80 million on distribution. We are available in the states including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. We recently signed a deal with Gujarat Telelink Private Ltd (GTPL),” avers Narain.

    The free-to-air (FTA) channel is also available on Essel Group’s direct-to-home (DTH) company Dish TV and DD Direct Plus.

    With the tagline ‘Ek Umeed’ (a ray of hope), the channel has a staff count of 375 across 11 bureaus. The channel has six OB-vans for news gathering and an association with 600 stringers across the nation for news.

    “It is a very competitive space. We can’t compromise on content. Our focus is on social and developmental stories across the country,” adds Narain.

    With the Mumbai launch, the channel will have a new look and feel as new segments will be added. At present, P7 News runs over 20 news-based supplements in weekdays, while it picks up social issues and campaigns on weekends.

    Within six months of launch, the channel has roped in advertisers like Coca-Cola, Bata, and Morepen apart from a clutch of real estate companies.

    Pearl Group has a wide array of business interests spanning real estate, tourism, TV & film production and print publication.

  • CNN IBN launches special series on drought

    CNN IBN launches special series on drought

    MUMBAI: CNN IBN is launching a special series covering the drought-affected areas across the nation, the worst in recent times.

    The channel, through its series Spectre of Drought, will try and analyse the impact of the drought throughout the week in the news wheel.

    The news correspondents will travel to all the major states like Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

    The series will attempt to gauge just how bad the impact of the drought is and how much will it affect the common man in urban areas who are dependent on these rural areas for food supplies.

    Says IBN18 Network editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai, “As the country witnesses a severe drought, CNN IBN brings Spectre of drought for it viewers to bring the real impact and effect of the drought in various parts of the country. The series will also look at the impact of drought on urban areas addressing problems like the food prices rising by the day.”

    The series will cover places like Aurangabad in Bihar where farmers have now begun using guns to protect the scanty and precious water in their barely functioning irrigation canals. It will also show western Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana amongst others.

  • Zee News Ltd to invest Rs 600 mn in Telugu and UP news channels

    Zee News Ltd to invest Rs 600 mn in Telugu and UP news channels

    MUMBAI: Zee News Ltd. (ZNL) is investing Rs 600 million in its two regional news channels which are slated for launch this month, a senior executive said.

    Telugu news channel Zee 24 Ghantalu will require a capex of Rs 220 million and an operating expense of Rs 180 million for one year. The news channel for Uttar Pradesh will have an investment need of Rs 200 million towards capex and operating cost for a year.

    “We are looking at launching these two channels between 20 March and 31 March. They will take up the positioning of being serious news channels. These markets have a high consumption of hard news,” said the executive.

    The Telugu news market is flooded with 12 channels while Sahara is the only player which runs a dedicated news channel for Uttar Pradesh.

    ZNL had earlier announced it had suffered a loss of Rs 9.26 million for the yet-to-be launched Zee 24 Ghantalu during the third-quarter of the current fiscal.

  • Zee 24 Ghantalu to now launch in February

    Zee 24 Ghantalu to now launch in February

    MUMBAI: Zee News Ltd (ZNL) has rescheduled the launch of its Telugu news channel for February this year. Earlier, the company was planning to launch the channel by November 2008.

    The channel, christened Zee 24 Ghantalu, has incurred a loss of Rs 9.26 million during the nine-month period ended 31 December 2008.

    ZNL is also planning to launch a regional news channel in Uttar Pradesh during the fourth-quarter of this fiscal.

  • BBC World News’ Travel India begins airing 3 October

    BBC World News’ Travel India begins airing 3 October

    MUMBAI: BBC World News is launching a travelogue Travel India. The six-part series of journey to India’s spiritual sites, urban business centres and underdeveloped rural areas will be presented by Harsha Bhogle. It will air every Saturday at 7 pm.

    Bhogle starts his journey from the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat and then makes his way to Bikaner. Moving on, Bhogle reaches the Golden Temple in Amritsar before travelling to Kashmir where he visits Wagah. He then travels to Delhi and Uttar Pradesh where he visits Benares.

    His journey continues to Bihar and West Bengal where he meets the Sunderbans tribes. Then he hops to the south where he has a stopover at Hyderabad, before going to Kanyakumari. After his journey of the south, he heads west to Nashik to tipple and taste some wine along with a crash course in wine making. He then travels back to Mumbai to wrap up his adventure, a trip that takes a full circle back to the point of origin.

    BBC World News programmes head Paul Gibbs says, “The Travel India series uncovers the diverse and unexplored facets of India as it stands today. It’s an exciting discovery of the unexpected which gives a unique and intriguing insight into amazing India.”

  • ‘TRP chasing has done major damage and it is time we took a call on that’

    ‘TRP chasing has done major damage and it is time we took a call on that’

    I will describe this year as one of the lowest points in Indian TV journalism. This has been the year with the most serious crisis of content. And this year has clearly shown how ratings and TRPs can affect content.

    There is a serious need to look at the ratings system. If the ratings system goes on like this, where it is impacting the kind of content that is defining the channel, then it is a bleak future of TV news journalism.

    This has been a particularly bad year, which is why there has been so much hue and cry and there is so much hostility towards TV news channels. The common man is fed up and everyone is saying that there is no news in TV news channels.

    This has been a particularly bad year, which is why there has been so much hue and cry and there is so much hostility towards TV news channels
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    And in the coming year, there is a dire need for all the editors and proprietors to rethink which direction they will take their channels. And if the only factor is ratings, then we should seriously look into the ratings system. A time will soon come when people will lose faith in the news channels.

    And it is this debate that has given the government the alibi to come out with a Content Code so that they can have control over the news channels. We have given the government the entry to come restrict the freedom of expression.

    That’s one thing. About my own channel, we can say that we were bold enough to stand our ground saying, “Whatever rubbish is going on the other channels, let them do it, but we shall not do that.” I won’t say we have been 100 per cent successful, but very, very successful and I am proud that we are probably the only Hindi news channel that can call itself a news channel.

    We provoked ourselves to get news in the right perspective. We have been aggressive and this has given us excellent results, maybe not in terms of ratings, but in terms of perception. We have severely shaken up the political establishment repeatedly.

    We provoked ourselves to get news in the right perspective. We have been aggressive and this has given us excellent results
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    It was our stories on Maharashtra or Uttar Pradesh that has angered the governments and got Mulayam Singh annoyed with us. After he left, we did excellent reporting on the Mayawati government and they were also very angry with us, which I think is a compliment. This showed that we were not targeting any particular government, and this is why our channel was shut thrice in UP.

    The same thing happened with us in Gujarat also, where we had a tough time. Our channel was shut for about a week when we did the story based on Guajrat Riots expose done by Tehelka..

    We have stood firmly on our feet during these difficult times, and even in terms of ratings also, we have improved vastly. When we started last year, we had six points, and in a year, we doubled that and touched 14 per cent market share, so it is not as if people are not watching news channels. And yet, there is a crisis of content in the news industry as a whole.

    The present ratings system is does not define what is a news channel.

    The problem with TV is that if there is anything dramatic happening, whether it is news or not, people have a tendency to watch that. And a few channels have realised that if they have to improve their ratings, then they have to get that kind of content. It is sex that has become very, very important… it is the gory that has become very, very important…

    In fact, I call them low cost reality channels rather than news channels. People go back home after the whole day and want to see what has happened in India or across the world, but what they see is everything other than news.

  • Lalli is new Prasar Bharati CEO

    Lalli is new Prasar Bharati CEO

    NEW DELHI: Baljit Singh Lalli, an Indian Administrative Service officer of the 1971 batch from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, is to take over as the new Prasar Bharati CEO.

    The post had been vacant since K S Sarma retired on 30 June after serving a term of six years. However, the post was held on a temporary basis first by Doordarshan Director General Navin Kumar until his retirement and then by All India Radio DG Brijeshwar Singh.

    The candidature of Lalli, who is presently the secretary in charge of border management in the union ministry of home, was selected on 21 December by a high-level committee meeting under vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. The name could not be announced earlier as information and broadcasting minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi was out of the capital.

    Under the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act 1990, the selection of the chief executive has to be made by a high-level committee comprising the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Press Council of India Chairman (Justice G N Ray), and a nominee of the president. It is understood that S K Arora who is secretary in the I&B ministry was the third member on the committe.

    The chief executive normally has a term of six years and functions under the Prasar Bharati board that is headed by a Chairman.

    Meanwhile, AK Jain who is a 1977 batch IAS Officer has taken over as the member (Finance) of Prasar Bharati, following his appointment to the post on the recommendations of the high powered selection committee. He will hold the office of member (Finance) for a period of six years, as per the provisions of the Prasar Bharati Act.

    V. Shivakumar is the new member (Personnel) of Prasar Bharati. He is presently holding the post of director (HR) in MTNL – a board level position. The post of member (personnel) was lying vacant since the retirement of D P S Lamba.

    Jain, an M.B.A. in finance and marketing from the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi, also holds an MBA in finance and public sector management from the University of Hull, United Kingdom. He claims to have grounding in financial management and corporate affairs and has worked in the department of public enterprises/ heavy industries and the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers in his previous postings. He acquired first hand experience in the functioning of commercial enterprises as the executive director of NAFED.

    Having served a tenure as the joint secretary in the ministry of home affairs, Jain was the principal secretary to the government of Nagaland before his new assignment.

    The appointment of a full-time member (Finance) assumes significance in view of the corporate restructuring plan being worked out for Prasar Bharati. A group of ministers is deliberating the issue.

  • DD to showcase ‘Meeting a Milestone’ on Ustad Bismillah Khan

    DD to showcase ‘Meeting a Milestone’ on Ustad Bismillah Khan

    MUMBAI: As a mark of respect following the demise of Indian classical music legend and Bharat Ratna recipient Ustad Bismillah Khan, national network Doordarshan is paying tributes to the maestro by telecasting a documentary Sangemeel Se Mulaquat (Meeting a Milestone).

    DD will air the documentary tonight at 10 pm. The 90-minute film has been produced by National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), with direction and photography by Gautam Ghose. It is in Hindi and Urdu, informs an official statement.

    The shehnai (Indian wind instrument) maestro passed away of heart failure today. The government has declared a day of national mourning.

    The national flag flew at half-mast at government buildings while schools and government offices were closed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where Ustad Khan lived and passed away in his hometown of Varanasi.

    According to the statement, in view of this, the programmes scheduled earlier against the aforesaid time slots 10 pm to 11:30 pm on DD-1 will not be telecast. The Bioscope: serialized feature film Gautam Govinda (Part-1) will air at 11:30 pm on DD tonight.

    Born on 21 March, 1916, into a family of court musicians, Ustad Khan started training at the age of six. A high point in his career was when he played shehnai at Delhi’s Red Fort on the eve of India’s Independence in 1947.

    Ustad Khan was admitted to hospital last week after he complained of weakness.

  • Dish TV to come down hard on pirating cable ops

    Dish TV to come down hard on pirating cable ops

    NEW DELHI: India’s first direct-to-home service Dish TV today issued an ultimatum to cable operators filching its signals.

    In a rear guard action against piracy, a massive operation has been announced to crackdown on pirating cable operators who are using the Dish’s set-top boxes as a medium to illegally distribute TV channels (some of which are exclusively on the DTH platform) to the cable consumers.

    According to Essel Group of Industries additional vice-chairman Jawahar Goel, “It is important to send out the message that product counterfeiting will not be tolerated as it has an extremely detrimental effect on the whole fraternity, including content creators, broadcasters, and the government.”

    ASC Enterprises, an Essel Group company, holds the licence for a DTH service in the country, which is marketed under the brand name Dish TV.

    According to an official statement from Dish TV, a local cable operator in Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh was caught by the police, along with Dish’s anti-piracy team, on Saturday for illegally showing ESPN and Star Sports through a Dish TV box when he did not have an agreement with ESS to re-distribute the sports channels.

    The police has seized the errant cable operator’s infrastructure and the chip of Dish TV, which gives access to the DTH service.

    Commenting on the development, Goel added, “We expect support from broadcasting and the film industry as well to take up this effort to curb piracy, which is to the tune of over 10 billion annually.”

    The official statement said that of the 1.1 million subscribers of Dish TV, about 5,000 have been found to be allegedly indulging in piracy of signals. While their connections have been switched off, legal action too has been initiated against them.

  • Zee launches dramedy ‘Jabb Love Hua’

    Zee launches dramedy ‘Jabb Love Hua’

    MUMBAI: Zee TV today announced the launch of its latest kid in the prime time soap block. The dramedy Jabb Love Hua will run Monday through Thursday in the 8:30 pm slot, starting 24 April.

    With Jabb Love Hua, Zee TV is exploring the dramedy genre once again, after the success it had with Kareena Kareena. The serial, set in a scenic village in Uttar Pradesh, also brings back producers Tony and Deeya Singh of the DJ’s Creative Unit to the Zee team after a gap.

    “We have something different in Jabb Love Hua. A serial, set in a rustic backdrop, is something we don’t see often, and we have explored this aspect with Jabb Love Hua,” says Zee TV programming head Ashwini Yardi.

    Zee TV kicked off the promotional campaign for the serial today. Zee TV is exploring outdoors, radio, print and its network platform to promote the serial.